LOS ANGELES — A short two seasons ago, Theo Howard was the impressive young freshman veterans could stop praising. Now he’s the one asked to give scouting reports on his younger teammates.

The junior from Westlake High thinks Kyle Philips, a 5-foot-11 freshman from San Marcos, is a “jittery, speed kind of guy.” Chase Cota, at 6-foot-3, is “a bigger, longer, taller receiver” with “strong hands and he used his body well.” Delon Hurt and Michael Ezieke are “getting down into the plays” and he “can’t wait to see what their future holds.”

For Howard’s own future, he’s still hoping to live up to the scouting reports his former teammates had on him, like when former UCLA receiver Kenneth Walker III promised two years ago that “Theo’s going to be a top receiver at UCLA.”

Howard indeed enters the season UCLA’s top receiver this year, but the role was obtained by default more than on-field dominance to this point. Through graduation and NFL draft attrition, Howard is UCLA’s top returning receiver by a long shot. He had 56 catches for 489 yards last year while the next closest returning receiver was Christian Pabico, who had 18 receptions and 280 yards. Demetric Felton, the only other returning receiver with a catch last year, had two catches for minus-2 yards.

Coach Chip Kelly called Howard the “obvious leader” of the receivers and the former four-star recruit is taking to the new role.

“I’ve had to take on more of a leadership role and come out of my shell and be more vocal,” Howard said. “With me, I’ve just had to work on certain different things in my game just to help the offense go and help to make the team better.”

Part of Howard’s role as leading receiver is tutoring the younger players, as the Bruins will likely rely heavily on their freshmen this season. Philips and Cota were listed on UCLA’s official two-deep released Monday. Philips is the No. 2 slot receiver behind Pabico while Cota is split out wide. The highly touted prospects were among the first freshmen to join the team as Philips enrolled in January and Cota followed in April. Their experience with the team gave them a head start in carving out roles for Saturday’s season opener against Cincinnati, Howard said.

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What exactly everyone’s role will be Saturday, Howard doesn’t exactly know. Even as one of the upperclassmen, Howard hasn’t fully figured out the team with a new head coach, a new starting quarterback to be named later and just five available seniors.

“You see fast, high-paced, up-tempo,” Howard said, “but you won’t really know until the first game comes to see how we do.”

Another inside linebacker down

Linebacker Leni Toailoa suffered an apparent left shoulder/chest injury during a special teams drill Tuesday, further depleting UCLA’s inside linebacker group. He was examined by trainers on the sideline, where older brother Lokeni came over to check on the redshirt sophomore, and did not return during the 20-minute open viewing period.

Depending on the severity of the injury, the Bruins could be down to just two healthy scholarship inside linebackers in Krys Barnes and Tyree Thompson.

Although senior Josh Woods is the only linebacker who has already been ruled out for the season, Lokeni Toailoa and Bo Calvert were both wearing yellow non-contact jerseys during Tuesday’s practice. Calvert was riding the stationary bike Tuesday after appearing to injure his hamstring Monday. Lokeni, a junior, has been limited since Aug. 23. Junior college transfer Je’Vari Anderson has been spotted on the field only once during the viewing periods of practice since Aug. 16.

With their options limited, the Bruins could turn to Mique Juarez, one of the final options left at outside linebacker, for depth. The former North Torrance star was listed as a backup outside linebacker on Monday’s depth chart, but practiced at inside linebacker in the spring.

Quick hits

Defensive lineman Ethan Matus, running back Soso Jamabo and receiver Stephen Johnson III were watching practice from the sideline in yellow T-shirts. … Defensive lineman Marcus Moore and linebacker Elijah Wade were limited to participation without contact during practice. … J.J. Molson was 5 for 7 on field-goal attempts, with both misses coming from 42 yards.

Thuc Nhi Nguyen has covered UCLA for the Southern California News Group since 2016. A proud Seattle native, she majored in journalism and mathematics at the University of Washington. She likes graphs, animated GIFs and superheroes.

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